Are these irregular periods?

[lostfrequencies]

Ever since I started my periods at age 13 I have never been "like clockwork" as I see other people describe. I am currently undergoing tests for what I suspect to be PCOS, as the situation has come to a head due to difficulties TTC.

I have been tracking my periods for a little while, these are the cycle lengths (in days) over the last 13 months:

43
29
29
34
32
18
41
28
31
21
33
32
36

This may sound like a stupid question, but would you call these irregular? Taking out the 18 and 43 as they were perhaps a bit of an anomaly, a lot are around 30 days which I guess is fairly normal? Or do a lot of people genuinely start a new cycle every 28 days so this level of variation is abnormal?

I would say not too irregular

Thanks @didldidi

One of the problems I'm having is that the doctor ordered a 21 day blood test, meaning a week before your cycle is due ago start over, presuming you have 28 day cycles that is. As I never have any idea when my period will start it's impossible to get a test 1 week before.

Yes that does sound difficult!
mine for comparison (aged 50):
25
39
19
29
23
31
24
23
30
25
31
26
27
31

which according to my app averages out at 27 and I thought mine were irregular but actually pretty similar to your pattern?!

I think the 'rule' is 7 days either side of your normal cycle is normal. Anything more than that is irregular.

A normal cycle is a cycle length of between 21 and 35 days or with less than 4 days of variation from month to month.

Your cycle would be seen as irregular in nature and PCOS may well be the cause.

Blood tests can be done according to calendar days if the cycle is irregular. Apart from a day 21 test you should also have a day 2 one done to compare your LH level against that of FSH. There is often an excess of LH compared to Fsh when PCOS is an issue.

@AttilaTheMeerkat thank you for responding. I'm actually waiting for a call back from the GP - I was calling to see if there's any point in me having the 1-3 day test, as I figured I couldn't book the other one? They didn't call it a 21 day test, that's just a term I've read online, what I was told in the initial consultation was "you'll need your blood taken 7 days before you're due on" and I explained that would be impossible for me to work out and they just kind of shrugged it off. When I called the receptionist to book a test I was told that only one test had been requested and there was no info sent through about the time in my cycle it needed to be at, so I thought the GP had had a rethink. Then I turn up for the blood test and the nurse asks me if this is the day 1-3 test or the 7 days before... ahhh. In the end my blood was taken to check for chlamydia only lol.

What do you mean by calendar days? So if I ring up when I come on my next period and ask for an appointment the next day (slim chance they'll have one available?!) and then one at 21 days - even though it could well only be halfway through my cycle if it's a long one that month?

I think Atilla has copied and pasted that from somewhere. Calendar days are just days. (People talk of calendar months, rather than 4 weeks, but days are just days!)

@DuchessofDerbyshire ah yes I know what the term means, but I didn't know what it means in this context. They said "blood tests can be done according to calendar days if the cycle is irregular".

Surely the results of the test on day 1-3 and on day 21 (of the ideal 28 day cycle) are compared to look for changes in hormone levels etc and to see if ovulation has occurred, so they need doing at those specific times in the cycle?

When I was undergoing fertility treatment the hospital used calendar days for blood tests I.e the 2nd, 10th and 21st of each month as my cycles were so irregular. So if the 2nd fell on a Saturday for instance, then the blood test would be done the day beforehand. Doing these monthly also gave them a thorough profile of my hormone levels detailing non ovulation.

Day 21 usually only measures progesterone.

What kickstarts the whole ovulation process are luteinising hormone and follicle stimulation hormone and those two are measured on day 2. If these levels are awry then ovulation will be affected.

Thank you!